Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend A.Ismaylova / The women's field hockey team of Azerbaijan, which was preparing to participate in the world championship on 18 August in Manchester, faced problems in receiving visas. While the British Embassy refused to provide the women's team with visas, significant reasons are not known. Although the composition of the team was announced two days ago, the team is still in Baku. The refusal has had an adverse affect on the psychological condition of the team. The competitive Azerbaijani team was deprived of its chance to attend the championship due to bureaucratic obstacles. The European championship is an official, licensed competition. The teams who win of the first three places will receive the right to participate in the 2008 Olympiad in Peking.
The British Embassy was not available for comment.